1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of computer networks, and, in particular, to the connection between a user device and a content server. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and system for providing accessibility to a disabled client for any Internet Web site.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet comprises a vast network of heterogenous computers and sub-networks all communicating together to allow for global exchange of information. The World Wide Web (WWW) is one of the more popular information services on the Internet. The WWW uses browser software to decipher HyperText links to other documents or files located on remote computers, all of which are connected to the Internet. Browsers provide a user-friendly interface that allows users to easily navigate from site to site or file to file around the Internet. Using a browser, a user can access information in the form of text, audio, video, still pictures and related multimedia stored on remote computers or content servers.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the Internet and other devices that may be used to access the Internet. A client device 10, such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), onboard vehicle computer, cellular telephone, etc., sends a request for a Web site, typically under the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 12. ISP 12 establishes a link to Internet 14, which then passes the HTTP request to a content server 16. This request is forwarded to a content provider 18 that is typically a web page addressed by a Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
The response from client device 16 is typically in the language of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) that is the standard language for creating documents on the World Wide Web (WWW). HTML defines the structure and layout of a web document by using a variety of tag commands inserted in the document to specify how the document, or portion of the document, should be formatted. The response from content provider 18, is routed back through content server 16, Internet 14, and ISP 12 to client device 10.
A major problem for the Internet relates to providing access to web pages to handicapped users, including the visually impaired, hearing impaired and physically handicapped. Such accessibility primarily consists of changing the style of information received from a web page, such as changing print font sizes or converting written text to aural speech for the visually impaired. Accessibility features also relate to modifying how information is input into the user's device (such as a computer), to include changing the time delay for auto-repeat functions on a keyboard for users unable to quickly strike keys, changing mouse roller ball sensitivity and other changes to input devices to accommodate physical limitations of the user. Internet accessibility programs have historically been limited to a particular application program or operating system for the client device being used by the handicapped user. Additionally, some web pages have inherent accessibility functions that can be used only for that page.
Another problem found in accessibility prior art relates to the process of transcoding content from content provider 18 to a format that is recognizable by the hardware/software of a particular client device 10. Typically, a response from a web page is conventionally formatted via standard page description language such as HTML, which contains text and can reference graphics, sound, animation and video data. If client device 10 is a pervasive device, such as a PDA, smart phone, wearable computer, etc., it typically must communicate in a non-HTML language, and usually through a dedicated ISP 12. The dedicated ISP 12 directs the request from the pervasive device to a special URL, typically sub-defined by content server 16 or content provider 18, to reply with the appropriate response in the appropriate language, such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) for handheld wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smart phones and communicators. Alternatively, ISP 12 may have the ability to transcode an HTML response from a content provider 18, but this ability has historically been limited to a limited predefined number of content providers. Thus accessibility requires not only transcoding of content by changing font size, background color, etc. for a particular handicapped user, the transcoded content needs to be understandable by the particular type of client device 10 being used.
The problem of transcoding for accessibility is complicated if the user of client device 10 sends a request to a secure server. Secure connections in the prior art between a secure content server 16 and client device 10 establish the requirement that the connection be inaccessible to any third party. For example, a user making a purchase over the Internet would want information regarding credit card numbers and other financial details to be inaccessible to outside hackers. A secure content server 16 supports any of the major security protocols that encrypt and decrypt messages to protect them against third-party tampering. A typical protocol for a secure connection is the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, which uses a public key, typically a code table, to decipher any coded data. By convention, web pages that require an SSL connection start with the URL address of “https:” instead of “http:”. It is understood that the socket of an SSL is typically a software object, not a physical component of a computer system. Thus, accessibility transcoding of content from secure web pages can only be accomplished if the transcoder can communicate between client device 10 and secure content server 16.
It should therefore be apparent that there exists a need for a universal accessibility system for a handicapped user to access any selected web page, secure or non-secure. Such a system should include a user-specific and user-defined transcoding system that includes transcoding operations to provide accessibility to that client user, such as font modification, background displays, etc., that can be delivered to a variety of client devices 10 used by that user. It would further be desirable to devise a computer program product wherein such a method may be performed on a computer system. In addition, it would be desirable to devise a proxy machine having the ability to transcode responses from a content provider 18 to a client device 10 according to user-defined preferences for accessibility.